お年玉 Otoshidama

 

In Japan, for New Year’s, children receive money from their parents and grandparents in a fancy envelope.  This is called Otoshidama. 

 

During class today, the topic was “What do you do on New Year’s Day,” and most kids answered that they get “Otoshidama.”  So then, my teacher asked the kids how much they usually get every year, and the average was over 20,000 yen, which is roughly $230!  WHA. haha

For Christmas, I used to be happy if I got $20 from my parents…..

These kids…so rich.  One kid told me she got around 100,000 yen last year……….that’s over $1000 dollars.  And most of these kids save their “Otoshidama.” So then my teacher asked them how much they have saved up, and some kids said they have more than $1000 in their savings.  That’s wayy more than what I had in middle school. I definitely never saved up the money I got for Christmas. 

Anyone wanna give me Otoshidama this New Year’s? =D